Editing Velatine Federal Republic (section)

==International Relations==

The Velatine Federal Republic relies somewhat politically on keeping its populace suspicious of outsiders - at the same time, this suspicious does not expand into full blown paranoia like in other Periphery nations - the VFR understands that its neighbours and the IS are a valuable source of trade and resources. 

The VFR's nearest neighbours include the Jarnfolk, pirate worlds and various Outworld Waste microstates. The VFR is on fairly good terms with the Jarnfolk who are useful trading partners - Jarnfolk bodyguards have become popular among Velatine politicians. The VFR is, like most periphery realms, heavily concerned over the issue of piracy and will on occasion send expeditions to purge pirate holdings. The VFR tends to be exploitative to a degree of the microstates of the Outworld Waste and the deep periphery - conquest of any further planets does not interest the republic, but they have partaken in "gunboat diplomacy" to open trade before. 

The more central neighbours of the VFR are the Draconis Combine, Outworld's Alliance and Federated Suns. The VFR has traditionally had a cool but cordial relationship with the OA - they respected each other as trading partners and fellow periphery nations, and had little interaction beyond that. However, refugees from the OA abandoning the state after its turn to the Raven Alliance has lead to a sharp decrease in contact and trade. The DC and FS are often the main hiring bodies for the VFR's mercenary force of the Stradioti. While respected trade partners, the VFR tends to be suspicious of Spheroid methods and politics and the Stradioti are polite but cautious during their expeditions.

While the Raven Alliance would make the VFR nervous, oddly enough, the VFR had positive, if brief, interactions with Clan Goliath Scorpion after that Clan's relocation to Neuva Castille. First contact between the distant periphery powers was due to a very far traveled Goliath Scorpion Seeker band inadvertently aiding VFR forces by wiping out a pirate force - after cautious talks, the Seekers were awarded some obsolete and deactivated Star League relics from the Federal Museum on Ragusa. Since then, Seekers have identified the VFR as a fairly friendly stop over point on their vision quests - the VFR has a policy of giving resupply in exchange for services rendered. Since the Imperio is well distant, the VFR is not particularly worried about a clan conquest from that direction, and members of the far ranging Stradioti see the Seekers as something of kindred spirits - relations would slowly but steadily improve over time.